Mechanism for producing a transparent panel in paper and the like.



W. E. SWIFT.

MECHANISM FOR PRODUCING A TRANSPARENT PANEL IN PAPER AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED IULYZB, l9l3.

1 3mm I N Patented July 3, 1917.

6 I 32 v 2 In ventoi' 4 16' W 2'27 45 2 fillazdESwzfit M m I. l v v ran envelop blank so that after stance applied to WILLARD E. SWIFT, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOJR, T0 UNITED STATES ENVEIiOPE COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIEL MAINE.

D, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MECHANISM FOR PRODUCING A TRANSPARENT PANEL IN PAPER AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 3, 1917.

Application filed July 28, 1918. Serial ,No. 781,492.

To all whom it may concern; 7

Be it known that I, WILLARD E. SWIFT,

' a citizen of the United. States, residing at Worcester, in the county of Worcester and Commonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in a Mechanism for Producing a Transparent Panel in Paper and the like, of which the following, together with the accompanying drawing, is a specification.

y invention relates to mechanism for producing a transparent panel in sheet material, such as paper, and it has more particular referenceto mechanism for produc ing a panel of definite shape and location in the envelop has been completed, an address appearing upon the contents. of. the envelop will be visible. Machines have been devised for producing transparent panels in envelops either by cutting an opening in the face of the envelop, by covering such an opening with a transparent sheet of paper or the like, or by applying suitable substances, such as oily mixtures, to a definite area of the envelop blank, the such as to cause the area to become, transparent.

My invention is of that class in which the desired area is treated with a suitable substance to render it transparent. The sub- ,the' paper has previously been merely applied to one "surface thef'eof so as to soak intothe body of the paper sufficiently to act thereon. I have found, however, that by thoroughly forcing thesubstances through the pores and between the fibers of the paper by fluid pressure, its action is more complete and the transparency of the treated area is increased. One object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide mechanism for forcing a suitable substance through the pores and between the fibers of a piece of paper, or like sheet material, by means of fluid pressure, air under pressure being used for this purpose in the form of the invention which I now COIlSldGI most desirable.

After the substance has'been applied to a portion of a sheet of paper. or the like for the purpose of producing a transparent area, it has. been found that the substance would creep more or less into surrounding portions action-of these substances being the ends of the of the sheet so as to cause the transparent area to have an irregular and unsightly edge or boundary. It has been attempted to overcome this objection the predetermined area, the ink applied to the sheet serving to confine the substance to the prescribed area or to conceal the irregular boundary of the transparent area in case the substance should creep into the printed line. The objection referred to is most pronounced in the case of paper which is thick, porous and absorbent.

the present invention is to provide means by which a sheet may be compressed about the area to be treated so as to prevent creeping or spreading of the applied substance, the resulting transparent area or panel, therefore, being of definite and predetermined shape and size and having a sharp and well defined boundary line.

Further objects and advantages will appear from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a plan vlew of a machine constructed in accordance with my invention, an envelop blank being shown in position to be treated by the machine; Fig.

of the machine shown 2 is a side elevation 1n F 1g. 1; Fig. 3 is a central vertical sec- Another object of.

by printing a line around tional view of the machine; Fig. 4 is a plan view of -the member for compressing the sheet belng treated; and Fig. 5 is a plan view of a section of the base of the machine.

Like reference characers refer to similar parts in the different figures.

The principles of the invention will be'rea vealed by describing one form thereof as embodied in a machine for producing a transparent area or blank, the construction trated in the accompanying drawing. In this form of the invention the machine includes a base 1 provided with a pair of uppanel in an envelop 1 thereof being illusright rigid spaced posts 2 and 3, the upper ends of the posts being joined by a brace 4 secured to the posts by boltsi5 and 6.- A die 7 slides vertically between the posts 2 and 3, die being rovided with tongues 8 and 9 fitting slidalily in vertical grooves 10 and 11 respectively formed in the adjacent faces of the posts 2 and 3. The die has a vertical opening, the lower end of which conforms in shapev andsize to the area which is to be rendered transparent in the envelop blank 12, By removing the brace 4, the die may be replaced by another having an opening of any desired size and shape to correspond with the size and shape of the transparent panel which it is desired to produce in the envelop blank. The envelop blank to be treated is inserted between the posts 2 and 3 and beneath the die 7 in the position indicated in Fig. 1, the upper free surface of the base 1 being extended beneath the posts 2 and 3 by forming horizontal recesses or slits l3 and 14 in the bases of the posts and in the plane that the envelop blank occupies while being treated. A. cap or seal 15 moves vertically above the die 7 the cap having tongues 16 and 17 fitting slidably in the grooves or ways 10 and 11 An upwardly projecting rim '18 surrounds the upper end of the opening 'in the die 7 and projects into the space within the cap 15. The lower edge of the cap fits about the rim 18so as to rest upon a gasket 19 on the shoulder 20 surrounding the rim 18 of the die so as to form an hermetically sealed joint between the cap and the die.

A vertical pipe 21 leads from the cap 15 through an opening in the brace 4, the pipe fitting loosely in the opening in the brace so as to slide therethrough as it moves vertically with the cap 15., The pipe is connected in any suitable way, as by a flexible rubber tube 22, with a source of supply of air under pressure, and a valve 23 controls the admis sion of air through the pipe 21 to the space inclosed by the cap 15 and die 7 A U- shaped or bifurcated lever 24, mounted on the post 2 by the pivots 25 and 26, engages the opposite sides of the die 7, each side of the die carrying a pin 27 received in a slot 28 in the corresponding arm of the lever, The lever 24 is provided with a handle 29. The die 7 is normally forced downwardly toward the base 1 by the spring 30 connecting the lever 24 and the extension 31 of the brace 4.

Each side of the cap or seal 15 is connected with the corresponding side of the brace 4 by a toggle-joint composed of the links 32 and 33, the two links 33 at the opposite sides of the cap being extended and joined together by an integral U-shaped or bifurcated lever 34 provided with a handle 85 The portion. of the base 1 which underlies the lower end of the opening in the die 7 is perforated by a large number of small openings 36, the upper face of this portion of the base being covered by a fine wire screen or mesh 37, the edges of this screen or mesh extending under the die to its outer face in all directions. A pair of stops or ga es 38 and 39 are secured adjustably to the ase 1 to \position the envelop blank 12 properly under the die 7 In treating certain sizes of envelop blanks, however, the use of these gages may be dispensed with, the converging extremities of the recesses or slits 13 and 14 serving the same purpose.

In the operation of my device the die 7 is raised by depressing the handle 29 of the lever 24 and an envelop blank is inserted beneath the die into proper position as determined by the gages 38 and 39 or the extremities of the recesses 13 and 14. The handle 29 is then released and the spring 30 forces the die 7 downwardly so as to pinch and compress the envelop blank between the lower edge of the die and the upper surface of the screen or mesh 37. The restricted area of the upper surface of the envelop blank, determined by the lower lower end of the opening in the die 7, is then coated with some suitable substance adapted torender the material of the envelop blank transparent. Such substances are well known to those familiar with the art and consist generally of a mixture of oils, resins and the like. The substance may be applied to the restricted area of the blank in any desired manner as by a brush or a spraying nozzle. The cap 15 is then depressed against the die 7 by depressing the lever 34 so as to straighten the toggle-joints, the coated surface of the envelop blank being thus covered by the hermetically sealed space within the die and cap. The valve 23 is next opened to admit air under pressure to the space within the cap and die, the pressure of the air serving to force the coated substance thoroughly into and through the restricted area of the envelop blank defined by the lower end of the opening in the die. The fine screen or mesh 37 is provided for the blank to rest upon in order that the area of contact of the blank with the supporting surface may be as small as possible, the coated substance being thus allowed to permeate the blank more thoroughly and uniformly. The pressure of the air is allowed to act until the coated substance has passed entirely through the blank, any excess after passing through the blank being free to drain oil through the screen 37 and the perforations 36 of the. base,

The tension of the spring 30 is sufficiently great to. pinch or compress the envelop blank firmly between the upper face of the screen 37 and the lower edge of the die 7, the fibers of the paper or other material of which the blank is composed being compacted to prevent or limit the tendency of the coated material to creep or spread beyond the desired area defined by the die. The pressure of the die upon the blank thus greatly increases 1 the sharpness and regularity of the line of demarcation between the finished transparent panel and the surrounding portions not wish to be limited to such details as changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention; but having described my invention, What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a machine of the class described, a rigid perforated support for the material to be treated, a die open at its top and bottom for defining the space to be treated, means for applying pressure between said die and the material, a removable cap for closing the top of said die and forming an inclosed chamber, and means for exerting a pressure between said die and said cap to secure an airtight joint. I

2. In a machine of the class described, a rigid support for the material to be treated, means for registering the material on said support, a die open at its top and bottom, a vertically reciprocating cap for closing the top of said die, means for applying pressure between said die and the material to be treated, means for raising said die above the material, and means for applying pressure between the die and cap.

3. In a machine of the class described, a rigid support for the material to be treated, a die open at its top and bottom movable into contact with the material to define the area to be treated, a removable cap for closing the top of said die, means for applying pressure between the cap and die, means for applying a pressure to the material around the margin of the treated area, and means for applying fluid pressure to the upper side of the treated area through said die.

4. In a machine of the class described, a

framework comprising a rigid support for Y the material to be treated and having ways normal to said support for movable members, movable members slidable in said Ways and consisting of a die open at each end and a cap for closing one of the open ends of the die, yielding means for applying presi sure between the die and the material to be treated, means for moving the die away from the materialto be treated, means for sliding the cap in its ways to close one of the open ends of said die, to form an in closed chamber within the die, and means for applyin a fluid pressure within the in closed cham er.

5. In a machine of the class described, a rigid support provided with holes for the material to be treated, a fine wire gauze resting on said support, means for defining the area to be treated to the transparentizing substance, means for applying pressure around the margin of the treated area, and means for applying a fluid pressure to the surface of the treated area for forcing the excess of the transparentizing substance into the openings of said support.

6. In a machine of the class described, a

support for the material to be treated, a hollow die open at its top and bottom, a removable cap for hermetically sealing the top of said die to form an inclosed chamber, means for applying a pressure to said cap, and means for applying a fluid pressure to said inclosed chamber.

Dated this 24th da of July 1913.

W'IlZLARD E. SWIFT. Witnesses:

PENELOPE COMBERBAGH, NELLIE WHALEN. 

